


Trinculo/Stephano story (title tbd)

by planet_plantagenet



Category: The Tempest - Shakespeare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Awkward Crush, Crushes, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Pining, Prequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 19:50:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7401493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/planet_plantagenet/pseuds/planet_plantagenet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trinculo pines after Stephano and goes to Gonzalo for help. Fluffy at the beginning, but angsty at the end.<br/>(I cannot believe this is the first Trinculo/Stephano fic on ao3...)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trinculo/Stephano story (title tbd)

We’re getting ready to go to Dubhe for the king’s daughter’s wedding. It’s gonna be awesome! And guess what—they’ve asked me to do a speech! Because they think I’m funny! Isn’t that great? I thought Stephano was the only one who finds me funny. But I guess I was wrong. Anyways, speaking of Stephano, he seemed as excited as I was, which was pretty great too. I love it when we have things in common. I have a list of everything we have in common tacked to the wall in my bedroom. So far, there’s three things: wine, Star Wars, and chocolate pudding. This wedding will be a perfect time for us to bond! I hope he likes my speech…

Oh, and another thing! We were trying on suits for the wedding, and they all looked really awful. Stephano cracked up when he saw mine. It’s green and it looks like someone barfed on it! He patted me on the back and said something, but I don’t remember what it was because I was too focused on the fact that he touched me, and my shoulder was still tingling. Heheh. Anyways, we talked to the king and he said we could wear flight suits at the wedding if we really wanted. I was super happy about that (the flight suits are actually pretty comfy), and decided to wear this awesome shirt with the logo of the Beetle Juice Bar (my favorite pub) under it.

Actually, today was really nice, because I spent most of it hanging out with Stephano. In my opinion, the more time spent with Stephano, the better the day!

-

Today was the wedding! It was really really fun. Unfortunately, I was separated from Stephano for most of the day. When I was bored, I just imagined what Stephano must’ve been up to at that moment, and that cheered me up a lot.

Right after I did my speech (everyone laughed so hard!), the counselor Gonzalo came up to me. He looked very pleased. I was surprised, because he’d never even looked at me, let alone talked to me! After all, I’m just a comedian—not a very important role, is it?

“I loved your speech!” Gonzalo told me, grinning.

“Thanks,” I responded sheepishly. I don’t always know what to do when high-ranked people talk to me.

“I’ve seen you around,” Gonzalo went on. I wasn’t completely sure where he was going with this. “Always with the butler Stephano. Are you good friends?”

I blushed immediately. Why was he asking me about this?? “Uh, yeah….”

He smiled. “I’m sorry if this is embarrassing for you… I just thought you might be in the need of some advice.”

Uh-oh. Was I that easy to read?? “Regarding, um, what?”

“Well, if you don’t mind me saying, you have the air of someone with a crush."

Double uh-oh. “Um, I, I’ve gotta go set tables,” I said quickly, and ran. Cowardly, I know. But, well… I’ve never been that good at keeping secrets. It was only a matter of time, I supposed, before someone found out….

-

OK, so I finally worked up the courage to go talk to Gonzalo. Honestly, I couldn’t even look at him for the rest of the day. Then when I finally saw Stephano again, I burst into giggles. He asked me what was going on, but I ran away before he could question me. Oh my gosh. The worst thing about having a massive crush on your best friend is that you have no best friend to confide in. So, I guess, the reason why I went to talk to Gonzalo was that I really, really needed someone to talk to. Anyone.

Gonzalo’s office was really small, but cozy at the same time. That was nice. I was sweating super hard, though. Hopefully he couldn’t smell it. Hopefully Stephano didn’t smell it! Oh gosh, that would be horrible...

“Hello, Trinculo,” Gonzalo said in his cheerful voice, standing and pushing the door shut behind me. “Good to see you.”

“Uh… good to see you too.” What else was I supposed to say?

“How are you?”

“Fine…” I avoided eye contact as I lowered myself into the chair across from Gonzalo. For some reason, he chuckled.

“Oh, Trinculo, look at me! This is a safe space—no need to abide by those stupid ‘upper-class/lower-class’ rules.”

I looked up, smiling. That was nice to hear.

“Feel free to pour your heart out,” Gonzalo suggested.

I laughed nervously. “Yeah. Um. It’s just that… I don’t usually talk about my feelings to random strangers.”

I instantly regretted that the moment I said it, but Gonzalo just chuckled. “Perhaps this is your chance to practice! What’s on your mind?”

“Stephano,” I blurted before I could stop myself. Might as well get that out there, huh?

“Ah, of course.” Gonzalo paused for a fraction of a second. Then: “Do you mind if I ask something personal?”

I shrugged. “I guess that’s what this meeting’s meant for.”

“Am I right that you have a crush on Stephano?”

I sighed, looking at my hands curled together in my lap. “Is it that obvious?”

“Of course not. It’s just that… I have a lot of practice in guessing other people’s emotions. It’s a councelor thing.”

“Right.” That made me feel a lot better.

“So.” Gonzalo settled in his chair. “How long have you known you were gay?”

“Wait, what? Is that relevant?”

“Of course!”

I tried to remember. “Uh… ever since I was, like, twelve.”

“And have you ever had a crush on anyone before?”

I squirmed in my seat. “Yeah….”

“How did you react?”

“Um. Well. I just sort of, you know, kept it in. Where is this going?”

“I was going to suggest telling Stephano about your feelings,” Gonzalo said, smiling a little too serenely.

I almost leapt out of my chair. “What?? No way!”

“Why not?”

“It’s embarrassing!”

Gonzalo sighed, the smile leaving his face for the first time. “Trinculo. I know you care a lot about Stephano, and don’t want to embarrass yourself in front of him. But how else are you going to tell whether or not he likes you back?”

I pondered this for a couple seconds. “Well, I suppose that makes sense. But… I don’t know. What if he doesn’t like me back? I mean, he talks all the time about random hot girls….”

“That’s always a chance he’s bisexual! Come on, you can’t give up hope!”

I shrugged. “Yeah… but… I just….” Oh gosh. Crushes are so difficult. So, so hard.

“Think about it, Trinculo! If he’s really a good friend—your best friend, it seems—he’ll keep being your friend even if not your boyfriend.”

That was a fair point. I took a deep breath. “Yeah. Um. Maybe I’ll do it some time.”

Gonzalo beamed at me. “That’s the spirit!”

-

After the meeting (counselling?) with Gonzalo, I found myself feeling kind of sad. After all, more than half of the trip is over. We go to Dubhe, then back to Merak. And then I don’t have much free time, which means less time to see Stephano.

So, I decided to spend as much time with Stephano as possible.

Unsurprisingly, he was in the ship’s pub. He grinned when he saw me enter.

“Trinculo! Where’ve you been this morning?”

“Uh… stuff.” I didn’t feel like telling him about talking to Gonzalo. He’d just laugh. Then he’d ask what we were talking about, and I’d be forced to spill all my secrets.

To my surprise, Stephano didn’t question me, just grinned slyly. He patted the seat next to him. “C’mon, sit down! Let’s have a drink.”

I walked over, and sat, feeling my cheeks getting red. Usually, being in close proximity to Stephano didn’t trigger all these emotions. But I’d been thinking about my feelings a bit too much in the last day.

Stephano evidently noticed. “You okay, buddy?”

“Yeah,” I said, maybe a little bit too quickly. “Where’s that drink?”

He grabbed a bottle of wine from the counter. “So! What’s up on Planet Trinculo?”

“Nothing much.” _Trinculo, you liar._ I shrugged. “Uh… I dunno. Just thinking about stuff. The wedding. Yeah.”

“That was fun, yeah.” Stephano suddenly looked at me, and our eyes met. “You know, I forgot to tell you yesterday… your speech was pretty great.”

“Thanks,” I replied, grinning.

It was such a perfect moment, the two of us smiling at each other.

If I’d been a braver person—or maybe just a stupider one—I would’ve leaned in and kissed him. The thought sent butterflies through my stomach.

“Stephano,” I whispered, mouth dry.

“Yeah?”

Then the serenity was broken as the ship suddenly shook violently. The siren of the red alert alarm came piercing through the ship’s speakers, and I started. Stephano jumped up, eyes wide.

“This is the captain speaking.” The voice rang clear above the sound of the alarm. “We have encountered an unexplained spatial phenomenon. Please return to your cabins while we attempt to maneuver away from it.”

I rushed for the door as the ship lurched again, panic taking over my mind. _It’s gonna be okay. The captain will keep us safe._

When I got to the hallway, I paused. _Stephano_. He was still in the pub. I whipped around, adrenaline coursing through my body.

I was just in time to see the door to the pub slam shut, Stephano’s terrified face peering at me from the other side.

“Stephano!!” I screamed, I pounding on the door to the pub. It didn’t budge.

The captain’s voice sounded again. “Alert. We have gone into an emergency lockdown. Please locate the safest place in your immediate vicinity. A planetary crash is imminent. Try to stay secure.”

The ship shook again. The sirens filled my ears, drowning out any logical thought. I sunk to the floor, hands still pressed against the barrier that separated me from Stephano.


End file.
